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AUGUST 2008 |
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The Latest News
Register Now for
the 2008
TiE-Smith Fellows
in Entrepreneurship Program
A
Partnership Between
TiE-DC and Dingman
Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith
School of Business
The goal
of the TiE-Smith Fellows in Entrepreneurship Program
is to help promising entrepreneurs significantly
improve the odds of success for their early stage
ventures. Topics include strategic assessment, product
development, brand identity, team formation, funding
strategy,
marketing, and growth trajectory. After a very successful launch in
Fall 2005, and continued successful runs in 2006 and
2007, we are repeating this program for a new group of
entrepreneurs. This fall, the program is
scheduled for Friday mornings (9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)
from September 28 to December 14, 2008, and is
limited to only 15 entrepreneurs who have
already launched their ventures but not yet received
VC funding.
For more
information, please visit the
website. To
apply, please download and complete the
application, then
submit to
Asher Epstein.
Join Us: Dingman Delegation
to China 2008
Event:
China Business Plan Competition
Date: October 26-November 2, 2008
Location: Beijing-Tianjin, China
It's not too late to join the Dingman Delegation and
be part of a transforming journey to one of the
world's most dynamic economies! Even in this
age of instantaneous, digital communication, nothing
can match first-hand impressions and insight.
Space is extremely limited, so apply today!
For more information, please visit the
website.
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Also Inside This
Issue...
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Portfolio
Company Updates
 Mom
Made Foods, the Mid-Atlantic's first USDA
organic certified producer of fresh frozen foods for
children, announced in-store availability of its new
healthy children's meals and snacks at select
Mid-Atlantic Whole Foods Market stores.
Mom Made Meals and Munchies are packed with fresh organic
vegetables and whole grains. They give parents
a guilt-free, convenient way to feed kids foods they
love that are good for them.
Mom Made joined the Dingman Center as a portfolio
company last year. We are really excited about
the progress they have made and this new product
launch represents a significant milestone in their
growth strategy. We hope that you will try the
new products today!
Local Whole Foods Market stores that carry the
meals and munchies are:
- Reston, VA
- Tenleytown, DC
- P Street: Washington, DC
- Silver Spring, MD
- Alexandria, VA
- Fairfax, VA
- Inner Harbor: Baltimore, MD
Try them now!
 "Matt
Fleischer isn't trying to toot his own horn, but the
creator of
Hook & Ladder Brewing Company
can't help but recall his popularity as a graduate
student in the university's business school several
years back. 'Everyone wanted to be a part of
my group when we did group projects,' Matt said from
his craft beer company's Silver Spring headquarters.
If the 2005 master's of business recipient, along
with the help of his brewer brother, Rich Fleischer,
has his way and Hook & Ladder continues to grow,
those classmates might soon regret not latching on
to Matt's business model as it comes to fruition
outside the classroom. Hook & Ladder currently
distributes three beers - all brewed in Rochester,
N.Y. - to 21 states and 85 wholesalers, as is
prominently displayed on a massive distribution map
on a wall inside the headquarters."
» Full article on
Diamondback Online
"Lately, Dan Goodman, a senior fellow for renewable
energy at the University of Maryland's Robert H.
Smith School of Business and head of
Biodiesel University,
has fielded calls daily from people seeking
information on making biodiesel. (Despite its
name, Biodiesel University isn't a school to teach
people how to make biodiesel; it's a mobile
education lab aimed at getting students interested
in science.) Although many see biodiesel as a
cheap, environmentally friendly source of fuel,
Goodman cautioned that making it can be time
consuming and tricky. He said it's critical
for home brewers to do their homework and take
safety precautions."
» Full article on
TheWashingtonPost.com
Corey Laplante, co-founder of
Student Sherpas,
has been selected for the Student Fulbright Program.
He will be studying the ways in which efforts to
grow the Peruvian economy and reduce its poverty
rate have influenced decisions regarding
environmental regulation and conservation within the
country. Laplante will be taking classes at a
law school in Lima and doing research with a Lima
law firm/NGO (La Sociedad Peruano de Derecho
Ambiental). One case that he will be focusing
on specifically will be that of La Oroya, which is a
mining town about 180 kilometers east of Lima.
A US company owns a smelting factory there and is
responsible for the town's recognition as one of the
top-ten most polluted cities in the world. The
town's inhabitants are 100% financially dependent on
the factory and therefore have to put up with the
negative effects on their health and their land.
*About Portfolio Companies |
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Capital
Access Network Updates
We are excited about our newest sponsorship by
Johns Hopkins University
Technology Transfer. We
are confident that this relationship will
significantly benefit companies evolving from
technology commercialization.
We are proud to announce that we have become a full
member of the
Angel Capital Association.
The ACA is North America's professional alliance of
angel groups. This fast-growing association
brings together many of the 265 angel organizations
in the United States and Canada to share best
practices, network, and help develop data about the
field of angel investing. Our membership will
increase our visibility among entrepreneurs and
investors.
The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School
of Business, A. James Clark School of Engineering,
and Office of Research will be hosting an exclusive seminar for distinguished UMD alumni
and friends on Tuesday, September 9, 2008. Private investors
play a critical role in the early
stage equity financing of high growth
entrepreneurial ventures. Alumni, leading
venture capitalists, business executives and
regional entrepreneurs are in for an evening of
networking, cocktails and presentations about being
a part of the entrepreneurial spirit of the
University of Maryland. If you are an accredited investor
interested in attending or would like to refer
someone, please contact
Melissa Carrier
(301.405.9517).
"One large angel investor group locally is the
Capital Access Network at the University of
Maryland's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.
And the good news is that its members like to invest
close to home. 'You don't find many angels in
(Washington) D.C. making investments in Boston
companies,' said Melissa Carrier, the Dingman
Center's director of venture investments, at a
recent meeting of Entrepreneur's Exchange, an
Annapolis nonprofit group that holds lunch seminars
for small business owners at the Yellowfin
restaurant. Angels not only serve as a person
providing money, but also as an adviser, she said.
And they bring with them contacts and business
partners to help a company reach success, Ms.
Carrier said."
» Full article on
HometownAnnapolis.com
CAN Program Sponsors:
*About CAN
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Last Month at
Dingman
The August 5th segment, "Some Entrepreneurs are
Thriving in these Tough Times," can be viewed
here. The on
air transcript can be found
here.
The 50th anniversary of the
Hugh O'Brian Youth
Leadership (HOBY) WLC featured Asher
Epstein in the entrepreneurship workshop.
Approximately 500 high school students from around
the world participated in the week-long, intensive
educational program at The George Washington
University in Washington, DC. The WLC provides
youth with training in leadership skills and
capacity building through exposure to a
distinguished group of leaders from various sectors
in business, government, international affairs,
science and technology, medicine, media, and
education.
"At the University of Maryland near Washington,
students are also required to start businesses.
Melissa Carrier says the Internet has made that
easier. '...It doesn't take a lot of funding
to build an Internet business. So, in a lot of
cases you can build a Website for less than $10,000,
create some advertising, and build a nice small
business,' she said."
» Full article and video on
VOA News
"Brent Goldfarb, a business professor at the
University of Maryland, says all kinds of people
strive to be entrepreneurs with different
motivations, some to be on their own, others to be
rich. 'The fact of the matter is that most
entrepreneurs do not get rich. In fact, most
entrepreneurs earn less than if they were working
for someone else,' said Goldfarb."
» Full article and video on
VOA News
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DCE
Partner Events
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008
Time: 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Location: NASA Goddard Visitor Center
Greenbelt, MD
For more information on this
TEDCO Maryland
Minority Research & Development Initiative (MMRDI)
Event, including details on registering, contact the
SBIR program
manager,
Jacqueline Du Bois
(410.715.4176).
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Location: 1128 Van Munching Hall
This event is designed to showcase the positive
contributions being made by Indian companies to the
United States through technology, innovation,
employment generation, and other means. The
US India Business Council
(USIBC) and
Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
initiative highlights the top Indian companies
operating in America including The Tata Group,
Ranbaxy Laboratories, HCL Technologies, Mahindra
USA, Satyam Computer Systems, Essar Group, Wockhardt
USA, Thermax, ITC Group, Wipro, Essel Propack, and
Jet Airways among others. This is part of a
series of events being organized by USIBC and FICCI
across the United States. The Washington D.C.
event is being held at the Smith School with the
cooperation of
Center for International
Business Education and Research (CIBER). Lunch
is included.
To attend the event, please
send an email with your name, job title,
organization, and email address to:
USIBCEvents@uschamber.com
For more information, please contact
Karen Watts
(301.405.9477) at Smith School CIBER.
Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Location: Cooley Godward Kronish
11951 Freedom Drive, 15th Floor
Reston, VA 20190
Capital Call is a quarterly event hosted by
Cooley Godward Kronish LLP,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Silicon
Valley Bank, Comerica
Bank and
Deloitte at which
we present five of the region's hottest growth
companies over lunch at no cost to an audience of
100 venture capitalists and private equity
investors.
To
apply, please complete the Executive Summary and
send to
Carl Grant.
Event: University of Maryland Technology
Start-Up Boot Camp
Date: Friday, September 12, 2008
Location: Grand Ballroom, Stamp Student Union
The University of Maryland's Technology Start-Up
Boot Camp is an intensive, one-day workshop and
networking event about launching new ventures.
The Boot Camp is hosted by the University of
Maryland, a leading institution for entrepreneurship
education and venture formation. The Boot Camp
is FREE to all persons with a local university
affiliation. The cost for non-academic
attendees is $75.
Ignite your ideas: Interact with experts in
venture creation; meet grant makers, angel investors
and venture capitalists; join with hundreds of
active and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Shatter the barriers to starting your own
company: Learn how to launch a technology
venture from the ground up; discover university
initiatives that can help you bring your ideas to
market; find out how to raise capital; identify the
best ways to safeguard and manage your intellectual
property and assets; gain insight for writing a
great business plan and how to market technology
products.
For more information and to register, please visit
the
website.
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The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship
Founded by Rudy Lamone in 1986, the Dingman Center
was one of the first of its kind in the country and
has emerged as a top-ranked entrepreneurship center.
Thanks to initial funding with a generous grant from
Michael D. Dingman, founder of the Signal Corporation
(now part of Honeywell International), the Dingman Center
continues to grow as a regional and national catalyst
in the field of entrepreneurship. The Center is now
aggressively evolving, and in some areas, is expanding
its services to further its role as a leader in the
student, regional, and academic entrepreneurial communities.
The Dingman Center is currently led by:
Asher Epstein, Managing Director
Melissa Carrier, Director of Venture
Investments and Social Entrepreneurship
Mr. John LaPides, Chairman of the Board and Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Please visit our Web site at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman.
*Past Newsletters
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